Cetemar Wiki
Welcome to the Cetemar Wiki Cetemar is a fully-fledged fantasy world; set to Earth-scale; in the Middle Ages; incorporating 250 million souls, 200+ nations; thousands of towns and geographic features; as well as developed magic, trade, and political systems; pantheons; and complete maps. Freely DM from this backdrop--and tell me how it goes. Cetemar Overview Cetemar is a world where every inch of ground, every breath of air, every drop of water, and every drop of blood has meaning. It is a top-down fantasy world where all the pieces are fit together logically. It starts from a myth, to a map, to full-fledged civilizations, detailing why men and monsters live, fight, and die for their part of Cetemar. The 10 Things You Need To Know About Cetemar 1. "I tell you it's round. Round!" --Effezius the Cartographer Cetemar is a world defined by geography--not by plot or theme. Like Earth, environments of Cetemar are vast and varied. This, with the shape of Cetemar's Continents and breadth of the Oceans, has served to push civilizations forward in different ways. 2. "Monsters may be men. And men may be monsters."--Anonymous Monk ' Though many fantasy races and monsters exist on Cetemar, one cannot presume them good or evil. Every thinking group has a culture; a set of laws and beliefs that might appear alien, evil, or totally incompatible. There are good orks and bad men. '''3. "Throw off your dragons, and master your fate!" --Rangatira Odrigal, the First King of Men ' Elves, Dwarves, and Men Were the Gods' Feuding Children--And Dragons Were Supposed to Keep Them Separated. The three founding Races, The Fey (Elves and Dwarves) and Men, were placed on Cetemar by the gods. The gods knew that each race had the potential for great good or violent conflict. So, the gods sent with their progeny Dragons--essentially guardian angels--to protect and keep the peace. Dwarves would remain underground. The elves held the green lands. And men lived on the seas. For many ages the dragons ruled peacefully. Ultimately, the dragons were corrupted, destroyed or driven off by the children of the gods--and all the peoples of Cetemar could move freely. '4. "Men are like locusts, swarming, mindless, consuming everthing and leaving the land a waste." --Ser Quwaa Haraj, Elven Bard ' When Men first broke free of the oceans, settling on the shores of the ancient Elven lands, they were viewed as an oddity: having no wisdom and pitiably short lifespans. But as they began cutting into the forests, the Elves found them a threat. Men were destroying the very core of the Elves' existence and power; for the trees were not only shelter, but a vast codex of spells and lore patterned into the leaves, branches, and bark. Some Elves would stop at nothing to defend their homes, making monsters and abominations to fight for them. Finally they went so far as to learn the fire magics of Men--with disastrous results. '''5. "We called them 'tall goat.' Not very tasty, but easy to catch." --Oeld Bitharson, Dwarven Master First contact between Men and Dwarves, was sometimes agreeable, many times violent, most times, awkward or avoided. To the Dwarfs, these cloddish, short-lived creatures were initially treated like (and sometimes eaten like) two-legged goats. To Men, these Fey were more frustrating than the Elves. They had sharp metal, could appear from nowhere, and disappear into the earth just as fast. There was no forest to burn them out from. But Dwarves had gold. Humanity had grain. And both had greed. From this bonding, Men learned metallurgy, and Dwarves learned the love of beer. To this day the relationship between Men and Dwarves is fraught with complexity. Dwarves have the ore; and Men have the bread. 6. "Evil mad things. Elves. A burnt offering to angry gods." --Guttgor the Ork, Slayer of 137, Bedder of 23, Father of 161 Orks hate and fear elves. The orkik peoples are the children of War: the Sons' War, between Men and Elves. The Elves, desperate to stem the tide of human invasion, occupation, and destruction of their forest lands, began capturing, breaking, and breeding Men with Fey creatures. They wanted to find a creature that would bow to them; or at least leave them alone. From that dark magic came the Ork, and other Fellbreed creatures. And, at first, it was a successful effort. Orks were spellbound, slaves to the Elven will. They knew little about tool usage, built nothing from wood, and were quick to covet the treasure Men had. They made war against Men, holding humanity's advance to a bloody standstill. But, as generations passed and Elven power waned, the Orkik people broke free. They live on now in great numbers, fearing the resurgence of Fey power; still warring against the expanding empires of Men. 7. "Mortals Have Magic, and the Gods Are Not Pleased" --Hazimas the Bruja, Blood Witch On Cetemar magic is present in three forms: Lore, Deist, and Innate. Lore Magic is magic learned--found in a sense; province of the mage. Goedic Magic, is provided by the gods or, rarely, forced from the gods; the realm of the cleric. Innate Magic is the rarest form, naturally occurring within an individual. Many elves were magic-Innate. Those with blood from elves or gods have a chance to manifest Innate powers. The problem is the Gods never intended to release magic to mortals. They consider Lore-users and those with Innate abilities, as interlopers at best--heretics at worst. 8. "Oops." --Attributed to Fasal, Last Elven Fire Mage Magic is considered a gift to few; a threat to many. Magic use has a checkered history on Cetemar. Vast swaths of land have been violently transformed, ending the rule of entire races and empires. To this day, there are regions of Cetemar (the Ward Lands, Planum Sangre) that still suffer magical corruption. Consequently, its use is a source of controversy and division. Cultures vary between reverence toward mage arts, to summary execution of anyone even suspected of its use. They fall into four general categories: Mageocracy, kingdoms or city-states (Schools) ruled by mages; Goedic, kingdoms who use only magic from the gods, Purgic, kingdoms who purge all forms of magic; and Neutralstates who may regulate, but do not ban, any form of magic. 9. "The Unbeliever May Be Fit to Save. The Heretic Is Only Fit to Burn." --Alaksos the Righteous, Cathedra Prima of the Hegemon In the Last War of Expurgation, The Mageocracies' power were crushed by an alliance of the largest kingdom on Cetemar The Midian Empire (Purgic-aligned) with two Goedic states:Hegemon Al Deith Sar and Theo Taethni. These unlikely bedfellows drove mages out of their countries, forcing the most of the surviving Mage Schools to retreat to their city-states. Only the largest Mageocracy The Pintari, live on as an empire--having sold out their brethren. 10. "We Bind a Fragile Truce in Bonds of Iron and Rings of Gold." --Duke Brathemir, Crown Diplomat of the Aquethaini A 50 year truce now holds because two Neutral states, the Cete and Aquethaini forced a peace upon the warring parties. As ocean empires, each had cause to end the conflict. The Cete feared the rising power of the Midians. And the Aquethaini were a nation built on trade. War was bad for business. The Cete and Aquethaini pledged to embargo both warring sides, and smash their ships on the ocean. And, after half the Midian navy was sent to the bottom of the sea, the Last War of Expuragtion was quietly ended. Cetemar's largest kingdoms are bound in gold by trade and marriage, and by iron; the hostaged heirs of rival states. New alliances have formed; and old grievances fester. Young princes lust for glory and conquest, pushing the boundaries of their fiefdoms ever further into unconquered lands and rivals' territories. Categories *Arms and Armor *Art and Maps *Bestiary *Cultures *Conflicts *Food and Drink *Geography *Guilds and Orders *History *Lore *Mage Schools *Magical Items *Pantheons *Races *Technology Latest activity Art and Maps Category:Browse Category:Magic Schools